Ypsilanti is gathering to raise awareness for sickle cell disease and its impact on the BIPOC community during its Juneteenth celebration weekend.
Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited blood disorders that affects one out of 375 local African American residents.
Dr. Wanda Whitten-Shurney is CEO and Medical Director of Sickle Cell Disease Association of America - Michigan Chapter, as well as the organizer for Saturday’s Sickle Cell Awareness Walk in Ypsilanti. She says the disease presents complex symptoms, and because of that, sometimes those suffering from it are not taken seriously when they arrive in the emergency room.
“The hallmark of sickle cell disease is indescribable, unpredictable pain. Particularly, when our Black men go to the emergency room in pain, they are perceived as drug seeking.”
Dr. Whitten-Shurney says she hopes the walk brings attention to the institutionalized discrimination that permeates sickle cell treatment and that there’s community support for those who have it.
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